September 6th, 2009

Qatayef is a special dessert commonly served during Ramadan. It is an eggless pancake, cooked on one side, then stuffed with different fillings such as sweet cheese or walnuts or qashta ,then fried or baked. It is famous in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt and other Arab countries.

Let’s make Qatayef:

Filling – Ackawi Cheese (For Fried Qatayef and Baked Qatayef)

1. Slice the cheese, soak in water, change water frequently until most salt is washed out.

2. Put a cheesecloth in a strainer and drain the cheese, and squeeze out all water completely.

7, 8. Prepare the griddle or non stick pan, grease it with a little oil, and heat it till it is really hot, then start pouring the batter on the hot pan like pancake but smaller in size and don’t flip it on the other side, just allow to cook until the bubble is formed and the surface of the qatayef is dry and the underside is golden brown in color. Remove them to a kitchen towel and arrange them in a single layer, then cover them with another kitchen towel. In” picture 7 “this is the size for fried qatayef and baked qatayef, but in “picture 8” this is the size for qatayef assafiri (smaller in size).

8, 9. Each side of qatayef, you must get this result.

10. The steps of filling.

11,12. Deep fry it in corn oil until golden brown in color, then directly to the sugar syrup (you can flavor the syrup with orange blossom water or rose water). To prepare sugar syrup, In pot, turn on heat, put 2 cups sugar, and 1 cup water stir to dissolve, once it boils, add 1 tsp lemon juice, let them boil for few minutes, and turn off heat and let it cool.

13, 14. Or you can bake it, brush with butter, then to the oven at 356F = 180C, for about 15 minutes or until golden in color, then directly to the sugar syrup.

15, 16. To make Qatayef Assafiri (not fried or baked), bring the filling (I used homemade ricotta cheese (the recipe of ricotta cheese is here, traditionally we use Qashta), then fill the qatayef as in the picture 16. In qatayef assafiri we use the small size qatayef (as in picture 8).

Above: Two pictures of Fried Qatayef.

Above: Three pictures of Baked Qatayef.

Above: Four pictures of Qatayef Assafiri, the last picture is the way of eating it with the syrup (I added rose water and saffron to the sugar syrup).

Prepare the griddle or non stick pan, grease it with a little oil, and heat it till it is really hot, then start pouring the batter on the hot pan like pancake but smaller in size and don’t flip it on the other side, just allow to cook until the bubble is formed and the surface of the qatayef is dry and the underside is golden brown in color. Remove them to a kitchen towel and arrange them in a single layer, then cover them with another kitchen towel. In “picture 7” this is the size for fried qatayef and baked qatayef, but in “picture 8” this is the size for qatayef assafiri (smaller in size)

Each side of qatayef, you must get this result.

The steps of filling.

Deep fry it in corn oil until golden brown in color, then directly to the cold sugar syrup (you can flavor the syrup with orange blossom water or rose water). To prepare sugar syrup, In pot, turn on heat, put 2 cups sugar, and 1 cup water stir to dissolve, once it boils, add 1 tsp lemon juice, let them boil for few minutes, and turn off heat and let it cool.

Or you can bake it, brush with butter, then to the oven at 180C, for about 15 minutes or until golden in color, then directly to the cold sugar syrup.

To make Qatayef Assafiri (not fried or baked) , bring the filling (I used homemade ricotta cheese (the recipe of ricotta cheese is here, traditionally we use Qashta), then fill the qatayef as in the picture 16. In qatayef assafiri we use the small size qatayef (as in picture 8).

Notes and Tips

It is very important to grease the griddle with little oil only, so bring a paper towel, spray it with little oil, then grease the griddle using the towel

The sugar syrup must be cold because the rule is: cold syrup is added to hot desserts, and hot syrup is added to cold desserts.

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Thank you very much for this recipe.. very nicely presented.. I am lucky I came across your blog when I googled qatayef! I’ll be definitely visiting your blog more often… I’ve been craving y original Syrian food for a while now and this will help inshallah… Thanks again

Hi Ina
Yes, you can use Nabulsi cheese – soak it in water if it is salty. Also I’ve another recipe for Qatayef which I want to share it on the blog and I prefer it over this one.
– 1/2 teaspoon sugar
– 1/4 cup warm water
– 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
– 1 cup all purpose flour
– 1/2 cup medium semolina
– 1/8 teaspoon salt
– Approx 1 1/8 cups warm water, plus more if needed

Method:
——————
– In a glass or small bowl, put 1/2 teaspoon sugar + 1/4 cup warm water + 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast – stir to dissolve and let the mixture stand until yeast begins to foam (5 – 10 minutes).
– Use a stand mixer, attach the whisk.
– In the bowl of the mixer, put 1 cup flour + 1/2 cup semolina + 1/8 teaspoon salt – and whisk.
– Add the yeast mixture to flour mixture and whisk.
– Gradually add warm water.
– Cover and let the mixture rest for 20 minutes.
– After 20 minutes, check the mixture, it should be pourable but not too thin, you can add water if needed.
– The griddle or the pan should be hot, no need to grease it.
– Use ladle or scoop to pour the batter to the hot pan. Cook until the bubble is formed and the surface of the qatayef is dry.
– Place on a kitchen cloth, and keep them covered with other cloth.
– Fill qatayef with Ackawi cheese, or ricotta or nuts. Deep fry them. Then dip into the sugar syrup.